After TKO, Edwin Rodriguez 'ready to be star'

Monday

Oct 1, 2012 at 6:00 AM

The sky is now the limit for Worcester's Edwin “La Bomba” Rodriguez after his dominant night on HBO against the not-so-fearsome Jason Escalera. The unbeaten Rodriguez (22-0-0, 15 knockouts) punched his ticket to a big-money fight against a fellow top-10 opponent with an impressive eighth-round TKO of Escalera on Saturday night at Foxwoods Casino's MGM Grand Theater.

By Bud Barth TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

The sky is now the limit for Worcester's Edwin “La Bomba” Rodriguez after his dominant night on HBO against the not-so-fearsome Jason Escalera.

The unbeaten Rodriguez (22-0-0, 15 knockouts) punched his ticket to a big-money fight against a fellow top-10 opponent with an impressive eighth-round TKO of Escalera on Saturday night at Foxwoods Casino's MGM Grand Theater.

“I want one of the top 10 guys — I'm ready,” Rodriguez crowed. “I wanted to send a message tonight and I think my performance speaks for itself. He's definitely a strong kid, tough with raw power, but easy to predict.”

Next up could be Kelly Pavlik (40-2-0, 24 KOs), the 30-year-old former middleweight champion, who is the choice of Rodriguez's handlers. Or perhaps the WBC, which has Rodriguez ranked No. 3, might see fit to offer him a title-elimination bout.

“That was the offensive machine that Edwin can be that you didn't see against Donovan George,” promoter Lou DiBella said after Rodriguez punished Escalera right from the opening bell. “He fought a tough kid with an iron chin. He's ready for Pavlik at 168 or (Lucian) Bute (IBF champion) or (Jean) Pascal at 175.

“I hope HBO brings us the biggest fight because Edwin is ready to step up and be a star.”

There's plenty of name talent at super middleweight, where there are four world champions (Andre Ward, Carl Froch, Karoly Balzsay and Arthur Abraham). But Rodriguez also has the option of stepping up to light heavyweight if the money and the opponent are right, according to his manager, Larry Army Jr.

“Edwin has the body and the height (6-foot-1) to succeed at either level,” Army said. “Obviously, if he can go to '68 and we can get a big fight, if these guys aren't afraid to fight him, then it's a better thing for us because he's going to be the bigger guy in the ring. But he's going to be just as big as any light heavyweight out there right now.”

Rodriguez was never in danger from Escalera's supposed two-fisted knockout power because, he said, “I saw everything coming. He was trying to hit me so hard, he was trying too hard, basically.”

Rodriguez so dominated the first round that it was scored 10-8 without a knockdown by all three judges. One judge also scored the fifth round the same way. The bell saved Escalera in both instances.

When Escalera (13-1-1, 12 KOs) stumbled coming out of his corner for Round 8, Rodriguez took it as a sign that he hadn't recovered from the previous round's beating and went on the attack. After Escalera absorbed several sharp blows to the head in the corner and wobbled, referee Steve Smoger — who had consulted with the ring doctor after each of the previous four rounds — waved the fight to a finish after just 12 seconds.

“I noticed a progression -— each shot was hurting him more,” Smoger said later. “At the end, Edwin would come on, the kid would take shots and then respond. But there comes a point, responding or not, and the doctor told me, 'Anything significant in Round 8 and it's over.' That was significant.”

Rodriguez won every round on every judge's scorecard. Escalera couldn't comment afterward because he was whisked off to the hospital to have stitches in his right ear, which was opened up by a Rodriguez left hook during the final flurry.

“He was strong-minded, strong-willed, but I knew that he was going down, so I took my time and kept breaking him down with good body shots,” said Rodriguez, who reeled in his attack briefly after the first round and even intentionally toyed with Escalera, lowering his hands to his side in the later rounds as he mugged for his opponent.

“I just wanted him to feel confident a little bit so he would give me more openings,” the Dominican native said. “I was hitting him at will at one point. ... I wasn't really myself today in the ring, putting my hands down and showboating a little bit, but I just wanted him to know I had him.”

That was clear from Round 1, which Escalera somehow survived to the surprise of both Rodriguez and Smoger, who said he nearly stepped in to stop it several times before Round 8.

“Could he take a punch? He can take more than one,” Rodriguez said with a laugh. “I was surprised that he lasted that long.”